Conflicted! Was this and is this a youth ministry boo-boo?

A month and half ago I took some girls from the Annex (youth drop-in) to a concert in London. It was held at the John Labatt Centre. We got lost for only seven minutes! I made sure I left myself time to get lost because I knew that I probably would. The bands I took them to see were Thrice and My Chemical Romance. Another no name band played as well but they weren't very good. I have connected with these three girls from the Annex really well. We share the same sort of taste in music and we like Art as well. So one time I had mentioned to them that it would be fun if we could all go to a concert together. Later on I realized I should probably follow through with my promise. I'm sure that other people have made promises to them before without ever following through and I didn't want to be lumped in with those people.The night started off well with dinner at a cool diner style place and I took some funky shots with my camera of us all acting like idiots. Afterwards we headed over to the JLC, one of the girls and I bought some merch while the other two found our seats. After Natalie and I bought our goods we went to look for the other girls. We had a bit of a hard time finding our seats but we finally found them except the other two girls were nowhere in sight!?! We were sitting their for awhile and then this guy and his girlfriend sat down in two of our seats! I asked him his ticket number and he showed me his, he had the same seats as us?!? I showed him my ticket number and he said that I was in the wrong section. Ah ha we felt like idiots so we moved again with the same sort of results and then we finally asked someone to help us find our seats.Finally we got situated in our seats and tell the other girls our story. We had a good laugh at ourselves. Thrice starts playing and they were amazing! Their were songs where I got chills! Thrice has some beautiful compositions! A lot of people enjoyed their performance, heads were rocking and feet were tapping. So I started praying that they would get more acclaim for their performance than MCR, that the sound guy would make them sound good (instead of the typical 'lets make the first band sound crappy so the headliner sounds better') and I prayed that God would annoint their music.When I booked the tickets I thought that MCR would be an okay band to see because they don't have a lot of sexual content or swearing. Their music is depressing but decent and I couldn't find a whole lot of decent Christian bands that were touring at this time of year. MCR begins playing and every other word that comes out of the lead singers mouth is the F word. He yells at the kids to "fucken get jumping", he does this repeatedly, my girls starting jumping with glee. I start getting uncomfortable because I hate it when people tell me what to do and to top it all off he was telling us to 'fucken' do it. Even in church when the pastor says things like 'turn to your neighbor and tell them that God loves them' I don't like doing it because I'm not a robot, I think for myself! And to have someone talk down to me makes me even more pissed! Yet, every young person in the auditorium was joyfully obeying and it bothered me. It bothered me because they just lapped it all up. I thought to myself 'this is a generation who is use to being treated like garbage even by their idols and it is no wonder they think so lowly of themselves.'I began taking in the whole scene. The stage consisted of two screens on either side of the stage in the shapes of stain glass windows, images of stain glass windows from churches were being flashed on the screens. Some of the images even had Christ in them! I watched the kids dance with glee as they were sung words of depression over them, words that said straight out 'we sing the songs that you slit your wrists to'. Parents were encouraging their kids to jump around to the music as the lead singer asked 'all you mfo get your fingers up in the are' (he wasn't pointing to heaven either). In a way it was a church experience, the band was preaching death over it's congregation and their followers were innocently eating it up like puppy's eating out of the trash can. Dynamic performers who knew how to sugar coat their message with catchy beats and great stage presence. I know I may be over dramatizing and showing a little bit of the sheltered life I have lived.We left early and in the car I asked the girls to compare and contrast the bands. The girls talked a lot about stage presence and how MCR was really upbeat and Thrice wasn't so much. Then Dinah piped up about how Thrice was more spiritual and how she kind of got chills from the music when she listened to them. They then asked me my opininon and I said something along the lines of MCR are good performers, but not so great musicians (that is my honest opinion). I said that Thrice has really good musical compostion. Then I totally chickened out and didn't say anything about how negative MCR is and how positive Thrice is. I could have totally talked about music and the power it has over us and why I initially chose the concert. The girls love me though! They had a really great time, I was able to show Christ's love by loving on them and taking them to the concert.I'm thinking of asking them if they will take me to Catholic mass sometime and then maybe deberiefing with them again over coffee about the concert. They go to a catholic school and I have never participated in mass so I thought it might be a cool idea for them to take me and do something a little more spiritual. I dunno I'm trying to brain storm ways to bring in spiritual aspects to the relationships I have made at the drop-in I volunteer at. Anythoughts from you guys are welcome, lets just make any criticism or comments politely worded. I don't want to debate I just want feed back and your opinions.

It's coffee not marraige

No worries

'I'm Back in the Game!'

You can take that however you want! It is a quote from a teen cult movie involving the kid from the wierd tve show Third Rock from the Sun.

I need to vent!

I feel like the world is falling down all around me for no apparent reason. Yes I think it is because of my lack of sleep but I just feel so emotional all the time! I hate it! Today I felt like crap! Even though I went to bed at 1 and got up at 10 I was exhausted within an hour of being awake. My body felt like a truck had run over it, I wish I could be like everyone else and have eternal energy. I hate that even though I don't really have any major stressors in my life yet when i get stressed my body just totally shuts down. Urggghhhhh! Normally I would be writting this in my personal journal but since I am in London and my journal is at home in Sarnia I can't, so deal with it!
So I want to tell you guys about some minor disagreement I had with one of my more....hmmm how should I say this......really fanatical......no...... really enthusiastic.....wait okay I know 'over the top' super evangelical/charismatic aunts. Don't get me wrong I'm evangelical and charismatic just not OTT. Anyway I recently purchased a broach for my black coat because I felt like it was a little too conservative and wanted to personalize it to my own sense of style. Now this broach is fairly unique I bought it in the states at a kind of shady store called Hot Topic, it sells a lot of darker pop culture things; gothic clothes, piercings, band shirts, fairy paraphanelia, etc. The broach is a crystal studded skull. My Aunt noticed it and said something along the lines of 'why are you wearing that?....I don't like that you are....you shouldn't be wearing somethin like that...do you know what that represents?' I responded with 'i like it...it's hard core rock starish. It reminds me of pirates.' I looked at my dad and rolled my eyes then and he smiled a knowing smile back at me. Well I though that would be the end of it but I should have known that the Pellmann family doesn't drop things so easily.
Later that night my Aunt came up to me as I was sitting with her 18 year old daughter and said 'Adrienne what do you think that means?' and I said 'poison' (you know on poison bottles?). Then she said something about darkness and how when we wear things like that it invites things to harm us even though we don't mean it too. I told her that I heard what she said and understood what she was saying. She got a little upset and said that she knew what I was really saying. Anyway after she left my cousin then asked me what I thought about what she said and I told her that it was a difference in opinion and that she was being superstitious. She then told me that different symbols do mean different things. I rebutted with yes, for example a pentagram or anarchy symbol do stand for evil things and can invoke evil. Yet, I am not wearing something that is related to witch-craft or is intended to. Ya, that's my rant, at least it wasn't like when my aunt's confronted me about my plugs in my ear lobes and how they were related to evil pagan practices in Africa. In sense I just think that they are fearful of my cousin's and I rebelling or not acting or looking lady like.

Christmas is here!

So I''m celebrating Christmas with my mom's side of the family, we open our gifts on Christmas Eve (a german traditon) and I'm exhausted but excited! I'm grumpy but happy! I need more sleep but I'm running on adrenaline. I was up until 3am wrapping gifts for my large exteneded family. Praise Jesus that I had a job so that I could actually buy gifts this year. I had a lot of fun thinking of things. Britt (my closest female cousin) is here, I love her so much. Well gotta go we are about to gorge on our feast so bye.

Super Sonic Power!

You know what I love about driving standard? I love when you want to miss a red and the light is yellow that you down shift from third into second and it gives you this surge of power! Like in that car movie where they use NOS. Except I'm not and my car is a ford escort waggon. LOL, ya I know I'm crazy!

Guesss What!

My parent's are takimg me to California! Yes, my dream trip is going to come true! Dad has a business seminar he is going to in Cali at the end of March so they invited me to come along too. At first I was hesitant to accept because I didn't want to be the spoiled only child who gets everything she wants. Then I thought, 'this is the chance of a life time, don't be stupid Adrienne take this opportunity'. So ya I'm going! Their taking me as my 25th Birthday present. We'll be their for nine days, I'll even get to take the rental car on my own if I want some me time. We're going to go see the Redwood's as well!!!!! I am very excited (that old r&b song 'Too Close' just came on " step back your dancin kinda close, feel a little flow comin through from you......I get so excited....oooh your dancin real close....your makin it hard for me' Good tune to bump and grind to....but I don't do that anymore!)....where was I oh ya the REDWOODS! This experience I believe is going to be a spiritual experience for me, to be in the midst of something so old and so alive, smell fresh clean air and sense the life of the earth beneath me. OH MAN I CAN'T WAIT! We might go to an organic farm as well, so that will be fun to see and sample some of the delicious produce. I want to learn how to surf as well.... but I have to let go of the self concious side of me and just do it. It is something I have wanted to learn to do for a long time. We will be situated in San Jose which is near a little gulf so I don't think I'll have to worry about sharks that much either. Maybe I can just pick up some hot surfer dudes and get them to teach me. I could play the ditsy girl who needs help. Cuz you know I'm like that (sarcasm included). Ya, either way I'm going to make a fool of myself. Something I'm a pro at! Anyway I will talk to you later. I think my next post is going to be entitled 'awkward moments on the 401'.

"These are my thoughts not yours!"

I was listening to CBC the other day and it was discussing a scientist's findings regarding why men have a hard time listening to women. First of all I would just like to say if Canada were to be defined by any'thing' it would have to be CBC because it is truly Canadia and it keeps Canada from defining itself from American media. Okay I said it and now on to what this scientist found. 'His' findings showed that women's voices are two tones above males voices (duh). Due to this tonal difference women's voices are more complex than male voices. Therefore indicating that male voices are much more simple. Women's voices take on a more sing song tone that requires men to make more of an effort to decifer what a women is saying. So men's attention spand for listening to a women speak is shorter. Want to know what I think? Bulllll Shit! This guy just wants an excuse for not listening to his wife! The arguement could go the other way around. Men's voices are so simple that women have a hard time listening to them because they're voice is very monotone with little tonal inflection. In general I just think society has a hard time communicating to each other.

Cadbury is known for it's Easter milk chocolat mini-eggs. Recently I was in the store and saw these same eggs except they were in Christmas colours. I think it is hilarious that Cadbury realizes that they have a product that sells well at Easter so they decided to change the colour to make more money on them at Christmas. Eggs also have nothing to with Christmas. Unless you want to blow things out of proportion and say that Jesus was created from Mary's egg????

Christmas Wish List
1. Digital Camera
2. Multi-surface driving lessons
3. Skateboard
4. Trip to some place warm

Random thoughts I had at work or from work

1. Love is blind and sometimes love is blind to us.

2. I hate sick people! At work all these old people with horrible breath come in and I hate it. Now it woudn't be so bad if it was just bad breath but this is disgusting sickness breath. Breath where you can smell the sickness on them and even taste it (Eewghhhh [shudder]). So now I am slowly getting sick! I blame it on the man who came into my work smelling like dirty adult diaper. The man was fully mobile and had no excuse for not changing his depends! It brought up bad memories of a man I use to wait on at Second Cup. He arrived in a taxi with a walker, and would sit at the same place every time. He stank like shit! Actually he stank like fermented shit! One time he actually wet himself and I had to clean it up. He smelt so bad that even customers complained. So needless to say this new man brough up bad memories from the past. So much so that I stayed as far away from him as possible and actually hid my face in my shirt.
I blame my sickness on the women with the horrible flem breath, who I assisted with finding an item. Then I prayed that I wouldn't have to ring her in for fear of smelling her breath again. And yes(trumpet sound), God granted my request of not having to ring her in.

3. At the end of work I resisted the temptation of going to Dairy Queen for a brownie batter blizzard and instead bough Chocolate Soy So Good icecream. To quote Audrey Hepburn 'I'm a good girl, I am'. No bloating from dairy but sugar from icecream. I compromised.

I hate being female....

sometimes. I think I am beginning to PMS and I hate it! I have been getting so emotional, everything that is warm and fuzzy makes me cry. Seriously, music that has a lot of silky cresendo's, cheesy commercials (those diamond silhouette ones get me everytime), watching people with their kids, pictures of people in impoverished countries and especially watching couples together. They all make me so emotional! I hate it cuz I usually am a fairly hard person and don't let things like that get to me. I just stuff it down and move on with life but it is in my time of weakness that I begin to feel again. Sometimes I wonder if God allows women to go through this time cuz he wants us to feel. Yet my theory could be easily proven wrong because their are those women who are just emotional basket cases that cry at the drop of a hat. I think for me He is teaching me to allow myself to have emotion and not deny myself of it. A lot of times I try to be strong so that people do not see my weakness. Although I am very expressive with my face that it is hard to not tell what I am feeling. I also have such a short fuse that sometimes I just can't hide my angry emotions (Yikes).

The Breast Christmas Ever....let me explain

I sometimes need a dose of hip-hop music so I sometimes tune into the Detroit R&B and Hip-Hop station. Well the other day I was listening to the station and this add came on for..... 'The Breast Christmas Ever'. The radio station is giving away free boob jobs for Christmas to three 'lucky' women who send in tasteful pictures of themselves. Crazy eh!

Note to Self:
Eating red beans and rice at work = deadly combination!

Random funny things about today that just needed to be posted

On my way to work I was listening to the radio and one of the announcers I listen to always does a daily review of things that have been in the news. This report is half true and half fictional or all true but really wierd. So the DJ started doing his daily review andI was kind of half listening and half not. Well he starts talking about how this guy embezzled money from the cardio-vascular association, an association that raises money for heart disease (the number one killer in North America). Then he goes on to say that the lonely sap was using the money to pay for his Dominatrix to fly from LA to NYC. The courts are putting this guy away for 15 years.....but he won't have to worry about spending money on hiring someone to beat him because he'll get it for free in jail. What a sick and twisted world we live in!

Two random annoying things happened to me at work today.
1. A lady came up to my till and I began to ring her in. I go to grab her items and she grabs my hands and exclaims 'oh Oh oh' and presses on my nails. I state that they are my real nails blah blah. Then I go to ring in the bird seed she had and she decides she hasn't decided on it yet and wants to put it aside. A normal request but then it gets wierd, I then go to grab her other items and all that is left is a lolli-pop. I ask her if she has anymore items and she says no. So I ring in her lolli-pop and it comes to .33 cents. She then proceeds to get her debit card out to pay. She paid .33 cents on her debit card for a lolli-pop! Who does that!

2. Oh and then another lady came in with her reciept and a $2.00 coupon. She looks at me and says 'here is the reciept from the purchase I made last week. I forgot to bring in my coupon can I use it now for my purchase?' I look at her and say ' I don't think we can do that but I'll check', so I go and talk to my manager and my manager tells me to give her two dollars. So I give her two dollars out of the till. Who does that! You wouldn't do that at Zehrs or Wal-Mart! It's only two freaken dollars! Get over it people, next time remember the coupon! Urghhhh people annoy me!

I had a great night!

Tonight was our second bimonthly 'Voice' (coffee house/open mic) and it was great! I put a lot of work into it and God rewarded my efforts. Today while I was getting ready I was thinking 'I hope that this goes well tonight. I feel like I put so much work into everything and then stuff just doesn't work out the way I want it to'. Well it went great, the kids did really well. I must make special note of Joe and Dan who did some rhymen and even used their own beats. The last time they did an okay job. This time they took my advice to practice a lot before hand and they used music that didn't already have words in it. Over all they did a 'slammin good job' (quote from Save the Last dance, such a great flick). The kids were wavin their hands in the air and hollerin out to them, it was great! One girl even did a few moves.
Overall I had a good time and I think everyone else did as well. I think that the kids just didn't know what to expect last time so this time they were prepared for what was coming.

I had a great night!

Tonight was our second bimonthly 'Voice' (coffee house/open mic) and it was great! I put a lot of work into it and God rewarded my efforts. Today while I was getting ready I was thinking 'I hope that this goes well tonight. I feel like I put so much work into everything and then stuff just doesn't work out the way I want it to'. Well it went great, the kids did really well. I must make special note of Joe and Dan who did some rhymen and even used their own beats. The last time they did an okay job. This time they took my advice to practice a lot before hand and they used music that didn't already have words in it. Over all they did a 'slammin good job' (quote from Save the Last dance, such a great flick). The kids were wavin their hands in the air and hollerin out to them, it was great! One girl even did a few moves.
Overall I had a good time and I think everyone else did as well. I think that the kids just didn't know what to expect last time so this time they were prepared for what was coming.